FLOWER POT KITCHEN: MY HUSBANDS TWIST ON THE REUBAN, PASTRAMI CIABATTA

27 Nov 2012

MY HUSBANDS TWIST ON THE REUBAN, PASTRAMI CIABATTA

This is one of my husbands favourite toasted sandwiches, I love making this for him as I love to see him stuff his face and just nod his head and make mmmm, yummy sounds while he devours this sandwich. That is the whole point of cooking for me.

(serves 2)

Ingredients

2 ciabatta rolls

4 slices of Swiss or Monterrey Jack cheese

12 slice of fresh deli pastrami or rare beef or corned beef

4 tbsp sauerkraut cabbage, squeezed.

For the Reuben (thousand Island) sauce

4 tbsp mayo

2 tbsp tommy k

A pinch of paprika

1 tsp horseradish

1/2 small onion fine diced or grated

1 dash Worcestershire sauce

1 pinch celery salt (optional)

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat a panni grill which is easiest or a plancer or the oven, slice open the cibatta rolls and spread some butter on each side, on the base cover with a ton of the pastrami or beef or corned beef if using, now place the cheese slices followed by the sauerkraut and then on the lid of the ciabatta smother generously with the Reuben sauce, sandwich together and place on your panni press if you have one and cook for 5 minutes until the ciabatta is hot and toasted with the cheese oozing out the sides, if you don't have a panni press use the oven or a flat top plancher and turn over half way, it does exactly the same job but just takes 5 minutes or so longer.

Now cut in half and enjoy a fabulous sandwich full of flavour and crunch with a great layer of textures, I never fancied this sandwich, but recently in the USA, my husband had it again and this time I had a bite and was quiet smitten, hence it has recently been a weekly lunch in our household.

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LIFE MY PASSION

Welcome to my daily life of cooking, one winters day many years ago my family and I were all inspired by a back to back rainy day of River Cottage this got us to stop talking about and start actually doing, suddenly three weeks later eight vegetable beds were dug, greenhouse erected and our first vegetables were propagating, this was the start to raising and growing our own food, our fabulous son Oscar changed our path in life which lead us to sell our small thriving restaurant of 10 yrs and to start our new life (Terrifying!) a life of the self sufficient in touch with nature and seasons, taking a step back and looking forward to a slower change of pace and making the most of every moment.

My passion for cooking was stronger than ever and having time at home with Oscar I found I had a new direction and I was no longer striving for perfection, I was suddenly very passionate for the enjoyment of the other side of food, something I had not realised, being the Chef/Cook and every other duty of your own small restaurant made me see that I never actually took time to cook what I wanted!

So there I was muddy boots and hands digging deep in more than one sense and I found myself transported back in time to where everyone grew some of their own food, it is a wonderful world with a real sense of achievement and loss, Slugs Snails and Caterpillars! But thats another story! Childhood memories of summers when I lived with my grand parents reminded me of so much that I had learnt about the make do and mend generation that I had forgotten.

Now as a family we love our free wild food days where we gather what nature has provided, have gone from being mini mini garden urban small holders, who did raised pigs at home because we could not wait to find land and supporting ourselves from our garden to now owning a very small farm that allows us to grow more vegetables for the whole of our family and neighbours, raise our own gorgeous Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, (Sausages!) and pets! Dorset Down sheep, chickens for eggs and pet goats! Suddenly having large quantities of produce started to wake up the Cook in me!

The Cook was awake that part of me that wants to cook for the masses and I found myself setting up Flowerpot Kitchen, a Farmers Market Stall, I wanted to use our honest raised meats and make old fashioned pork pies, rabbit pies and game pies from the local game keeper along with old fashioned techniques and the best hot water crust pastry. This in turn grew to a small cottage industry from home weekly supplying three farm shops and a deli along with also attending three farmers markets A few years later there came a time when my son Oscar's health changed and it was an easy decision to stop.

I still hold the occasional pop up 40 seater restaurant or gourmet lunch which we do for local charities for the love of sharing food and to remind that Cook in me why I love our go slower self sufficient life!

So here I am sitting amoung the vegetables watching the chickens loving that every season nature teaches me something new and that nature is in charge! She has taught me to just go with it and grow. Give it a try from a tray of salad on your windowsill to a few tomato plants it all counts.